Finding and buying the perfect home is serious business – there are choices that need to be carefully considered and options that need to be weighed up before any offer is made. Getting to know the seller and your agent can really help with the situation.
Regretting an expensive decision is one of the worst feelings in the world, and in a recent Telegraph article, surveys say that 1 in 5 Britons have been there. Follow this advice and make sure you don’t end up with a property-buying headache.
Overlooking charges and hidden costs
Don’t forget about any fees and payments that need to be made. It is easy to become over-enthusiastic when you find the absolutely perfect house, but do not allow yourself to be pressured into buying or paying any extra than you had originally planned.
Prepare yourself financially, with a little extra on the side – just in case of emergencies or issues that need dealing with.
Do a structural survey
You’ve found the house, and the price is right. What else to do but move in, right? Wrong. Commission a structural survey to make sure that everything is as it seems. Not as important in a new build, but definitely a must for one that has a few years on the clock.
Make sure that you buy from a reputable seller to avoid issues involving poor quality building work, which can result in expensive repairs and refitting. There are a lot of serious structural issues that you need to look out for, to ensure that your property does not become unsellable in the future.
Narrow your search
It is important to research the area where you’d like to live in. This will help you to narrow your search and avoid long drawn-out searches viewing endless properties. Having an accurate idea of location is imperative. Consider daily life – do you have a long commute? Is the property near local shops, or other amenities? If you have children, are the local schools acceptable? Perhaps one of these parameters can be used to reduce the size of the search area that you are looking in.
Choose the right size
Keep in mind the size of the house that you need and try to avoid the mistake of choosing a house that is too big or too small for your household’s needs. If your family is grown up and likely to move out soon, this needs to be considered as much as if you have a young family and need space to grow.
Don’t diminish your choices
Whilst it is important to know what you want from your home, try to avoid being too choosey. Everyone has their own dream home, but if you are struggling to find the house of your dreams then perhaps you are being a tad too particular. Square footage, kitchen size, that third bathroom – these are all things that can be changed at a later date. Don’t be put off if you like everything else.
Banner Homes have just been purchased by the award-winning Cala Group; industry experts in exceptional, upmarket new builds.
“Banner has a deserved reputation as one of the finest luxury house builders in the UK and combining the two businesses will put us in the top of the UK home builders, “said Alan Brown, chief executive of Cala group. “I am tremendously excited about bringing together the best of both Cala and Banner.”
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